Apple

ARTICLES ABOUT APPLE BY DATE - PAGE 5

FRANKFURT: German carmaker BMW said today its talks with technology giant Apple did not involve developing or building a car, denying a German magazine report. Auto Motor and Sport said in its March 4 edition that the two firms were discussing possibilities for cooperating on the development of a passenger car. Apple was impressed with BMW's carbon-fibre electric cars, the magazine said, citing a "high ranking BMW manager. " The BMW spokesman said: "We are in regular talks with companies from the IT and telecommunications sector, including Apple, concerning topics like connected vehicles.

BERLIN: Germany's Continental AG would be interested in acting as partner for technology giant Apple should the U.S. company decide to build a car, Chief Executive Elmar Degenhart said. "Apple has an excellent reputation on information and communication systems and has incredible financial strength," the CEO said today during an earnings call. "We would be interested" in acting as partner if Apple decides to produce a vehicle, he said. Separately, Degenhart was sceptical on prospects for battery-powered cars, saying Continental's electric-car operations may fail to make money "at least in the next 3-4 years.

GENEVA: It could be the battle of the titans. Auto giants at the Geneva Motor Show say they welcome the potential move of Silicon Valley players into their sector but experts warn of major disruptions. Google has long made headlines with its plans for a self-driving car, but Apple is now also reportedly readying for a plunge into the industry to begin developing an electric car. "This could surprise you, but I welcome with open arms the interest of Apple, Google and others in the auto industry," Volkswagen head Martin Winterkorn said, adding he thought it would help garner interest for cars among new generations who grow up connected.

SEOUL: A consumer survey shows the popularity of the iPhone 6 has driven Apple's market share in China to its highest ever while Samsung has continued to lose ground. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said Thursday that its latest survey of 15,000 people living in Chinese cities showed Apple's market share reached 25.4 percent in the November-January period, up from 20.9 percent a year earlier. That was a record for Apple in the world's largest smartphone market, but not enough to catch up Chinese maker Xiaomi , which claimed 27.6 percent.

Apple Inc sold the most number of smartphones globally in the fourth quarter, overtaking Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for the first time since 2011, according to research firm Gartner. Apple sold 74,832 smartphones to end users worldwide, ahead of the 73,032 phones sold by Samsung, according to Gartner's report. The success of big-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus drove Apple's sales in its first quarter ended Dec. 27. The company reported a profit of $18 billion for the period, the biggest ever reported by a public company, according to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt . Apple's smartphones sales jumped about 49 per cent in the fourth quarter, according to Gartner.

By Jack Ewing GENEVA: Dieter Zetsche , the chief executive of Daimler , began a meeting with reporters at the Geneva International Motor Show on Tuesday by half-jokingly asking them not to spend more than half the allotted time talking about Apple. It was an indication of how much Silicon Valley has set its sights on the car industry, and how companies like Apple and Google have intruded on what could reasonably have been expected to be one of the most cheerful industry gatherings in years.

SAN FRANCISCO: A US judge on Monday seemed satisfied with a proposed $415 million settlement that would end a lawsuit in which tech workers accused Apple Inc , Google Inc and two other Silicon Valley companies of conspiring to hold down salaries. US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, had previously rejected an earlier $324 million deal as too low. During a hearing on Monday, Koh raised no objections about the size of the settlement as she had at an earlier court session.

NEW YORK: iPhone maker Apple has dethroned Samsung from the top spot on the global smartphone tally, a position that the Korean electronics giant had strongly held for over three years, research firm Gartner today said. For the entire year, however, Samsung firmly held on to the top slot. According to Gartner, the US-based firm captured a 20.4 per cent share (74.83 million units shipped) of the global smartphone market, which saw over 367.48 million units being shipped in the October-December 2014 quarter.

BENGALURU: Notion Ink, a startup that designed India's first tablet computer Adam, plans to sell its Cain tablet in the US, taking the first step onto Apple's home turf. The firm that has formed strategic partnerships with two of the world's largest technology corporations—Microsoft and Intel—would be launching four products in the coming 12 months. Two of them would directly focus on markets such as Northern America and Europe. The Bengaluru-based firm, which showcased Adam tablet five months before Apple placed the first version of the iPad on store shelves in April 2010, is now making new bets on its Cain ultrabook that can transform into a tablet.

By Adam Minter Apple likes to say it's on the cutting edge of the fight against climate change. Recently, the company has boasted about the $848 million solar farm it's building to power its new headquarters in Silicon Valley and two new European data centres that will be its "lowest impact" yet. But projects like this barely scratch the surface of Apple's impact on the environment. Only 2 per cent of the company's greenhouse gas emissions have anything to do with facilities like its headquarters and data centres, according to the company's 2014 report on its climate change efforts.